1919 J Notes and News. 449

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1 Vol. XXXVI 1919 J Notes and News. 449 we only cause confusion. Presently some one else will suggest another scheme and before we know it we shall have hopeless chaos and our indexes will lead us nowhere. To those who have struggled long with the maze of published names and who by the aid of well framed codes are beginning to see the solution of that side of the nomenclatorial problem, it is discouraging to encounter well intentioned innovations such as Mr. Taverner's, and the endless activities of the genus splitter who has forgotten that a name is a name and tries to make of it a phylogenetic expression which changes with every user. There can be no rules to govern such phases of nomenclature which will always be matters of personal opinion. Why not let well enough alone?-- W. S.] NOTES AND NEWS DR. LolJIS BRASIL, a Foreign Member of the B. O. U., who was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the A.O. U. at the last meeting, died at Caen, France, October 15, 1918, but the news of his death has only recently been received. From 'The Ibis' we learn that Dr. Brasil was born in Paris in 1865 and at the time of his death was only 53 years of age. He was brought up at Caen where he received his education and where he became Lecturer and later Professor of Zo61ogy in the University. He also served as President of the Linnaean Society of Normandy. His work included invertebrate zo61ogy and geology as well as ornithology, but on the latter subject he published several important papers. He contributed the sections on Apteryges, Cassowaries, Cranes and lgmus to Wytsmann's 'Genera Avium,' 1905, and in 1914 published a little work on the 'Shore- and Water-Birds of France, Belgium and the British Islands.' Two years before his death he published a paper on the Birds of New Caledonia, containing descriptions of several new forms based on two collections made by French ofiscers in and deposited in the Caen Museum. Dr. Brasil contributed seweral papers and short notes to the 'Revue Fran aise d'ornithologie' and also to 'The Ibis.' His writings and his work in general were characterized by care and accuracy.-- T. S. P. FREDERICK BRIDGHAM MCKECHNIE, an Associate of the A. O. U. from 1900 to 1911, was born in Dorchester, Mass., Sept. 19, 1882, and lived there until about 1900 when his family moved to Ponkapog, Mass. He seems always to have been interested in birds, and this move from a suburban district to Ponkapog, a small country town west of the Milton Hills, and in a setting of as wild country as there is in eastern Massachusetts, was distinctly congenial.

2 Ax50 Notes and News. ['Auk t July Graduating from the English High School of Boston in 1898, he decided to go into business, rather than to put his family to the additional expense of sending him through college; and on January 1, 1899, went to work in Yamanaka's Japanese store in Boston. Becoming dissatisfied with the somewhat narrow possibilities and uncongenial atmosphere of his position, he decided that he would like to study landscape architecture, and entered my office as a student. Quiet and careful, with no end of energy, he became a firstclass draughtsman. While he never pretended to be a botanist, he acquired an all-round working knowledge of the trees and shrubs of Northeastern North America, and of the garden varieties of herbaceous perennials. Superintending a good deal of planting and other outdoor work, he became an expert in the handling, planting and pruning of nursery stock, as well as in the building of roads, grading, etc. and in the handling of men. Besides having a sharp eye, MeKeehnie was a very careful and reliable observer, and his ornithological records were remarkable for their neatness and scientific accuracy; his personally taken collection of New England eggs was beautifully kept; and the skins which he prepared were always particularly well made. He was also a photographer of no mean ability. He collected a library of books on birds and mammals, and had an almost uncanny ability for unearthing rare old volumes and papers, which, with an innate Yankee propensity for trading, he usually acquired with promptness and dispatch. He was not always successful in his quests, however, for I remember how after the death of Joseph M. Wade, MeKeehnie, who had known him well, spent weeks in rescuing priceless old books and papers, Wilsoniana and Auduboniana, from piles and barrels en route to the dump, to which they had been consigned by an over-efficient housekeeper, only to find that these treasures, which he had been led to believe had been left to him by Mr. Wade, belonged by rights to some heirs who were fighting in the courts over his estate. MeKeehnie wisely placed these papers in a safety-deposit vault, refusing to give them up to any of the unappreciative litigants, till the courts should have decided to whom they properly belonged; and then, as he could not afford to buy them himself, made arrangements whereby, through the generosity of Mr. John E. Thayer, the papers went to the Museum of Comparative Zo61ogy at Cambridge, where they could be safely kept for posterity. MeKeehnie had fine taste in a lot of things, and was particularly happy in his choice of friends, of whom he had many. One of the squarest men I ever met in all the years in which we worked or played together, there was never an unkind or hasty word or even thought; and I never knew him to say or do an unkind thing. No matter what he might be asked to do in the exigeneies of a busy season, he did it gladly and to the best of his ability. In the Spring of 1911, he first showed signs of breakdown, and went on a trip with A. C. Bent to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, in the hope that

3 Vol. XXXVI] 1919 I Notes and News. 451 his health might be benefited. His trouble, however, proved incurable, and he died March 1, 1913, after a particularly sad and lingering illness, mourned by his family and many friends.-- FRE ) H. KENNARd). TEE American Society of Mammalogists was organized at Washington, D.C., at a meeting held April 3 and 4, There was a charter membership of over 250, of which 60 were in attendance. The following officers were elected: C. Hart Merriam, President; E.W. Nelson, First Vice-President; Wilfred H. Osgood, Second Vice-President; H. H. Lane, Recording Secretary; Hartley H. T. Jackson, Corresponding Secretary; Walter P. Taylor, Treasurer. The Councilors are: Glover M. Allen; R. M. Anderson; J. Grinnell; M. W. Lyon; W. D. Matthew; John C. Merriam; Gerrit S. Miller, Jr.; T. S. Palmer; Edward A. Preble; Witmer Stone; and N. Hollister, Editor. Committees were appointed on: Life Histories of Mammals, C. C. Adams, Chairman; Study of Game Mammals, Charles Sheldon, Chairman; Anatomy and Phylogeny, W. K. Gregory, Chairman; and Bibliography, T. S. Palmer, Chairman. The policy of the Society will be to devote its attention to the study of mammals in a broad way, including life histories, habits, evolution, palteontology, relations to plants and animals, anatomy, and other phases. Publication of the 'Journal of Mammalogy,' in which popular as well as technical matter will be presented, will start this year. 'The annual dues are three dollars, for which members receive the journal. Anyone qualifying before the next annual meeting will be considered a charter member. WE lean from 'Science' that the Parliament of Quebec has created the colonies of breeding waterfowl on the shores and islands of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including the famous Bird Rock and the Gannet rookeries on the cliffs of Bonaventure, into one great preserve to be known as the Gaspe Bird Reserves. IN a notice in the January 'Auk' Dr. Charles W. Townsend calls for notes of interest on the birds of Essex County, Mass., which may be incorporated in a supplemento his volume on 'The Birds of Essex County' published in Unfortunately the notice stated that these notes should be in hand by November 1, 1918, instead of BIRDS IN THE MVSEVMS or WARSAW.-- In the 'Journal fiir Ornithologie' for April, 1918, pp , Prof. Neumann has made an'interesting statement regarding the two important collections of birds in Warsaw, Poland, belonging to the ZoSlogical Museum of the University and the Branicki Museum. The nucleus of the University Museum series was a collection made in Silesia by Von Minckwitz in the latter half of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries. Both museums are rich in types of birds

4 452 Notes and News. ] Auk LJuly from ½he two general regions of central and eastern Asia and certain parts of South America. The birds of Daurea, the Amur region, Kamchatka, and Korea are represented by the collections of Dybowski, Godlewski, Jankowski and Kalinowski, and form the basis of Taczanowski's great work 'Fauna ornithologique de la Sibcrie orientale.' The University Museum also has some of Przewalski's types and Mlokosievicz's birds from the Caucasus, and the Branicki Museum the Barey collections from the Transcaspian region and the Ferghana District of Turkestan. From South America the University Museum has the collections of Jelski from Cayenne and Peru, and part of the Stolzmann material from Peru and Ecuador, while the later Stolzmann collections were deposited in the Branicki Museum. These birds formed the basis of Taczanowski's 'Ornithologie du P6ron.' Stolzmann's work in Peru was continued by Jean Kalinowski whose collections were worked up by Count yon Berlepsch and Stolzmann. The Branicki Museum also contains the birds obtained by Dr. Siemiradskin Argentina and Patagonia and those collected by Count Branicki in Egypt, Tunis and Algeria. It appears that upon the approach of the German troops about 300 types and the entire collection of hummingbirds in the University Museum were sent to Russia but what disposition was subsequently made of them is not stated.--t. S. P. T < activity of ornithologists in working up the birds of Africa is clearly shown by the fact that nearly 1000 new species and subspecies were described during the decade from 1905 to In the 'Journal fiir Ornithologie' for January, 1918, pp , Dr. Reichenow has published a list of 979 new forms which have been named since the publication in 1905 of his work 'Die VSgel Afrikas.' Tm B. O. U. at its annual meeting honored several American Ornithologists. Dr. L. Stejneger was elected an Honorary Member, Dr. Joseph Grinnell and Mr. Outram Bangs, Foreign Members, and Mr. P. A. Taremet a Colonial Member. Mr. J. It. Fleming is likewise a Colonial Member though his name was accidentally omitted in a list recently published in these columns (Auk, 1918, p. 513). S c the death of Dr. F. D. Godman a movement has been inaugurated by the B. O. U. to provide a snitablc memorial of the work of Salvin and Godman. While the details of the plan have not yet been received it is understood that the proposed memorial will probably take the form of a gold medal to be given at certain intervals for specially meritorious work m ornithology. EGG collecting in California seems to be developing along the lines o4 "OSlogical Museums." One of these, the Woodland Heights Museum of Analytical OSlogy, of which Milton S. Ray is Curator and Rose Carolyn

5 Vol. XXX¾I] 1010 ] Notes and News. 453 Ray Librarian, is located at Mr. Ray's home in San Francisco. The material consists of Mr. Ray's collection and some others which he has associated with it. Another is the Museum of Comparative Orlogy of which Mr. W. Leon Dawson is Director and Secretary and Mrs. Etta A. Dawson Cataloguer. This consists chiefly of Mr. Dawson's collection, and that of Mr. F. C. Willard which was secured by donation. Each museum has a board of directors and list of correspondents visitors, while the latter one has an elaborate system of fellows, patrons, members, collectors, etc., representing eight grades. Mr. Dawson has recently issued the first number of the 'Journal' of this Museum, a pamphlet of 35 pages written entirely by himself and consisting of an advertisement of the Museum with an appeal for material and a sketch of the late R. G. Hazard, a trustee of the Museum. It is the hope of the director to secure sufficient funds to erect a museum building at Santa Barbara to house the collection which is now in temporary quarters at his home in that city. TI E 'American Museum Journal,' which under the able editorship of Mary Cynthia Dickerson has developed into one of the most important popular journals of science in America, begins its nineteenth year under the new title 'Natural History.' This magazine, published monthly from October to May, is furnished to all members of the American Museum as one of the privileges of membership. It may also be secured at any time by subscription, at $2.00 per year. Ti E Franklin Book Shop, 920 Walnut St., Philadelphia, announces 'The Passenger Pigeon in Pennsylvania' by John C. French, edited and published by Henry W. Shoemaker; a volume of 257 pages, fully illustrated. Only 500 copies have been printed, and the work is for sale at the above address only; price $4.00. A review will be published in the October 'Auk.' Tm Thirty-seventh Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union will be held in the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, November 11-13, 1919, with a busines session of the Fellows and Members on the evening of the 10th. All members of the Society should keep the date in mind and arrange if possible to be present. The scientific sessions of the last annual meeting had to be cancelled owing to the influenza epidemic and only the busines session was held, so that there will have been virtually an interim of two years since the last gathering of the Union. The cessation of the war and the return of many members from France will make the coming meeting one of the most noteworthy in the history of the organization.

6 454 Notes and News. [Auk [July The By-Laws provide that nominations o the classes of Fellows and Members shall be made in writing, signed by three Fellows or Members and delivered to the Secretary at least three months prior to the Stated Meeting. There is one vacancy in the class of Fellows and there will be opportunities for the election of 5 Members. Nominations should be in the hands of the Secretary not later than August 10 and should be accompanied by a full statement of the qualifications of the candidate including a statement of his work and a list of his publications if any. Nomination blanks may be had upon application.